Thursday, March 29, 2012

One in a Million - Susan Mallery (SSE #1543 - Jun 2003)

Series: Hometown Heartbreakers (Book 9)

YOUR BED...OR MINE?

Single mom and B & B owner Stephanie Wynne lived without stopping,
until FBI Agent Nash Harmon showed up as her guest...and the star of her
passionate fantasies. When he kissed her for real, Stephanie set some
ground rules to avoid the messy complications of relationships with men.
Sexy pillow talk was fine, but love...?

Nothing surprised Nash, until Stephanie's lively and quirky attitude
brought out the beast in him and made his hormones rage out of control
-- not to mention his steely emotions. Nash experienced an intimacy with
Stephanie that stunned him. Of course, he agreed to a no-strings
relationship with her, but his mission soon changed into a burning
desire for matrimony!

Fantastic book. Nash had come to town to meet some half brothers he hadn't known he had. When he finally met them, as a group they were overwhelming with all the spouse and kids. While staying at Stephanie's B&B, he began to experience feelings he didn't know he could have. He had always been one to keep a lid on his emotions. Stephanie was an open, fun loving single mom who was very independent. She'd had a bad marriage with a man who was irresponsible and wasn't interested in any more relationships. She had three sons to raise and that was enough for her. Almost immediately she felt an attraction to him that she'd never felt for anyone before. He felt the same for her, and was also drawn to her sons - something he'd never experienced, not knowing anything about kids. He was only going to be in town for a couple weeks, and they decided to indulge in a no-strings affair. It wasn't long before they both wanted more! I loved the way that he automatically helped with things like dishes, cleanup, and even offering to help her paint. She wasn't used to that and wasn't sure how to cope. I also liked the way she and the kids went to family get-togethers with him to help him cope with the chaos. I thought the final scene at the pool was fantastic.

About Me

My name is Susan and I live in Ostfildern, Germany. I have 2 children: Alan, 32 and Beth, 30, and one granddaughter, Evie. My husband and I have been married for 34 years. I worked part-time at Borders Books, which is a dangerous place for a bookaholic to work. It may explain why I have more than 400 books on my TBR bookshelf....
I started reading romance when I was around 12 or 13. I was babysitting for a neighbor who gave me free run of her bookshelves. Most of them were Harlequin Romances. I started out on authors like Margaret Way and Violet Winspear. I also read alot of Barbara Cartland. As I got older I added authors like Bertrice Small and Nora Roberts.
Several years ago I gave the first of Nora Roberts' Three Sisters trilogy to my daughter, as I thought she would enjoy it. Now she is as voracious a romance reader as I am. She is frequently asked "Does your mom know you read that stuff?" to which she replies "Who do you think got me started?!"
I learned awhile ago that I needed to keep track of what I've read and purchased. I now use a program called BookCat to track my books. I also list my books on Goodreads, LibraryThing, and FictionDB.